Editorial feature: Humane work is a collateral casualty of the “War on Terror”

October 2, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2004:

ANIMAL PEOPLE in a September 2004 cover feature extensively
examined the personal and political history concerning animals of
U.S. President George Bush and his November 2 election opponent,
Democratic nominee John Kerry.
Both Bush and Kerry strive to present an animal-friendly
image at the same time they tout being hunters.
Kerry, however, has reinforced the animal-friendly image
and earned the endorsement of the Humane USA political action
committee with a distinguished legislative record on behalf of
animals.
Bush has administratively attacked endangered and threatened
species habitat protection throughout his tenure in public office.
Bush has signed only one pro-animal bill of note, the Captive
Wildlife Protection Act of 2003, which was introduced and sponsored
in Congress by prominent Republicans. Previously, as Texas
governor, Bush vetoed a similar bill.
The Bush record has not improved. On September 21, 2004
assistant Interior secretary Craig Manson, a Bush appointee,
recommended a 90% cut in the designated critical habitat for bull
trout, a threatened species. Eight days later the Bush
administration issued a “temporary rule” allowing the U.S. Forest
Service to ignore a 1982 mandate to maintain “viable populations” of
fish and wildlife. Instead, the Forest Service is to base forest
plans on “the best available science.”

How Muslims can wage jihad against “Islamic” cruelty

May 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2004:

How Muslims can wage jihad against “Islamic” cruelty
by Kristen Stilt

The stories have become sadly familiar: a Society for the
Protection of Animal Rights in Egypt volunteer encounters a young boy
on a Cairo street throwing stones at a dog. She restrains the boy
and asks him: “Why are you harming this dog, who is one of God’s
creatures?”
The boy replies: “Because the Imam in the mosque said that
dogs are impure.”
Or SPARE president Amina Abaza sees a group of children
trying to drown a puppy in a canal on the outskirts of Cairo. She
rushes to the edge of the canal and seizes the animal, telling the
offenders that God will punish them for committing a wrong. “We are
doing no wrong,” they reply, “because we heard in the mosque that
dogs are dirty.”
In Egypt such incidents and comments are both common and
tragic. Because of mistaken understandings of Islamic teachings,
some Muslims in Egypt-and beyond-commit cruelty in the name of their
religion. Arguments that call upon religion, even incorrectly, can
only be defeated with proper religious citations. A careful look at
the Islamic texts clearly shows that the behavior of these children
and many others acting like them is completely wrong. But
reprimanding the children by telling them that their actions are
unkind, cruel, or unjust does not counter the underlying motivation
for their behavior.

BOOKS: Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights

May 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2004:

Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights
by Tom Regan
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200,
Lanham, MD 20706), 2004. 200 pages. Hardcover, $21.95.

Tom Regan, professor emeritus of
philosophy at North Carolina State University in
Raleigh, is so well known as to need little
introduction. The author of more than 20 books,
he has long been among the most respected
intellectual leaders of the animal rights
movement.
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson in his foreword opines
that Empty Cages is the single best introduction
to the topic of animal rights ever written. We
can commend the clarity of the logic and the
conciseness of the presentation. Regan takes the
arguments most frequently used by animal
exploiters, gives us the facts, and then knocks
the arguments down with incisive reasoning. If
you want to better put over the arguments for
animal rights, then you must read–and
learn–this book.

Tibetans take up “direct action”

April 2, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

KATHMANDU–“Large numbers of troops and police are patrolling
the streets of Rebkong, Quinghai Province, Tibet, to prevent a
bonfire of skins originally scheduled for February 12, 2006. It
appears that the Chinese government has banned the public burning of
chuba costumes trimmed with tiger, leopard and otter skins,” the
Wildlife Protection Society of India posted on February 15, based on
information received from Tibet Info Net.
Fiery protests resembling western-style “direct action”
continued in Tibet into March 2006, despite the military presence,
according to Nepal-based Radio Free Asia, and have occurred for at
least eight months, contrary to previous belief that they began with
fur burnings in January 2006.
Radio Free Asia on February 1, 2006 reported that in August
2005 at Manikengo, “Tibetans, some of whom said they were angry
because they had been pressured to sell their animals for slaughter
at below-market prices, broke into a Chinese-owned slaughterhouse
during the annual Tibetan horse race festival, which attracts
thousands of people. They found what they described as a large
number of animals, including dogs and horses, sources said.

REVIEWS: Prosecuting Animal Cruelty & Illegal Animal Fighting

April 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2004:

Prosecuting Animal Cruelty & Illegal Animal Fighting
AIM Reality Training video
featuring Captain Ken “Beau” Beauregard & Dena Mangiamele, DVM.
(POB 26593, Los Angeles, CA 90026; 213-413-6428;
<help@realitytraining.com>; <www.realitytraining.com>), 2004.
Two hours. Available on DVD disk or in VHS format. Free to law
enforcement agencies and bona fide humane organizations.

The Sheriff’s Department in Newton County, Alabama, during
the last week of January 2004 apprehended 120 suspects in connection
with a dogfight in Covington. This one raid resulted in more arrests
than all dogfighting raids around the U.S. combined did as recently
as 1997.
The Sheriff’s Department in Indian River County, Florida,
during the last week of February 2004 seized 1,500 gamecocks: more
than the total number seized nationally in any year for which
statistics are available prior to 2001.
In the first week of March 2004, Sporting Dog Journal
publisher James Fricchione, 34, was convicted in Goshen, New York,
of six felonies and five misdemeanors for allegedly promoting
dogfights.

Why You Should Vote in November

April 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2004:

Why You Should Vote in November
by Julie E. Lewin
President, National Institute for Animal Advocacy
President and Lobbyist, Animal Advocacy Connecticut

How painful the presidential campaign is! Again our noses
are publicly rubbed in our political irrelevance. John Kerry, now
the Democratic nominee, found time in his frantic primary campaign
schedule to “hunt,” for all of five minutes, posturing to win votes
from hunters.
Vice President Dick Cheney and Chief Supreme Court Justice
Antony Scalia soon afterward participated in a bird-killing spree.
News media questioned not their thrill-killing, but rather the
impropriety of such ex parte contact between a judge and a litigant
in a pending case.
As in other election years, some animal advocates angrily
contemplate sitting out the presidential election as a mute form of
protest. That would be self-indulgent. Of course we should vote.

How to hit narcissists with the anti-fur message

January 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

How to hit narcissists with the anti-fur message
by Irene Muschel

Here we are, 30 years after the
publication of Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
and Man Kind? by the late Cleveland Amory marked
the beginning of the modern-day animal rights
movement, and it is impossible to walk anywhere
in New York City, still the global hub of the
fur industry, without seeing people in fur
coats, jackets, accessories, and especially
fur trim.
Stores that never sold fur before are now
selling it, often without identifying the
animals it came from. The labels just say,
“Real fur, imported from China,” or “Genuine
fur.” This could be dog or cat fur. Although
importing dog or cat fur garments is illegal,
items priced at under $150 are exempt from the
federal requirement that furs be accurately
labeled.
I am left with feelings of despair and
anger that the animal rights movement has failed
so miserably in this area, through the use of
futile, self-defeating tactics, the absence of
vigilance, not monitoring what works and what
does not, and rigidly refusing to change methods
to become more successful.

It is not their fault for not listening

January 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

It is not their fault for not listening
by Carole Lewis

If the public is not getting our message,
it is not their fault for not listening. It is
ours, for inadequately or inappropriately
communicating.
I believe that most people who have petted a
bobcat will not be able to shoot one for fun, or
wear one for fashion. I believe that most people
who have come face to face with a tiger in a
moment of appreciation will not pay to watch
someone sacrifice the majesty of the tiger to
make him perform stupid pet tricks.
When people have the chance to see that
their choices can inflict great pain, most learn
to make better choices. I have the opportunity
to give sanctuary tours and talks about wildlife,
and the phrase I hear most often is, “I had no
ideaŠ”
Animal rescue facilities such as mine
cannot handle the number of creatures in need of
sanctuary when public ignorance fuels the market
for an endless supply of cute and cuddly cubs.

BOOKS: From Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse

January 1, 2004 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2004:

From Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse:
Alternative Methods for a Progressive, Humane Education (2nd edition)
by Nick Jukes and Mihnea Chiuia
InterNICHE (19 Brookhouse Ave. , Leicester LE2 0JE, U.K.), 2003.
520 pages, paperback. (Pricing: contact <coordinator@interniche.org>.

From Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse addresses teachers whose
disciplines traditionally involve animal experiments. The book will
also help students who do not wish to take part in animal
experiments, and animal advocates who are campaigning against animal
experimentation in education.
The authors investigate aspects of the “3R” concept. The
original “3R” curriculum, emphasized in basic education, was
“Reading, Writing, Arithmetic.” In 1959 British authors William
Russell and Rex Burch proposed that in science the “3R” concept
should be “Refine, Reduce, Replace,” meaning that the numbers of
animal experiments done should be drastically reduced, and that
painful and invasive experiments should be replaced or refined to use
fewer animals.
Much of From Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse catalogs
alternatives to animal tests in education. More than 500
alternatives suitable for teaching anatomy, physiology, surgery,
and other disciplines are briefly reviewed. Ten chapters describe
products specific to common curriculums.

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